Along with the supply chain headaches everyone is fighting — from clogged ports to empty store shelves — Ryan Gunnigle is focused on the potential for the opposite problem: gluts.
"Customers are just flinging crazy orders right now, so it's hard to determine the real level of demand," said the chief executive of Kids2, the Atlanta-based toy company best known as the maker of Baby Einstein and other baby-oriented brands. Business always surges around the holidays, but this year has been turned on its head by the pandemic.
A key danger in the current environment, he said, is that companies will order too many goods as they scramble to fill orders, especially in the runup to the holidays, which could quickly lead to piles of unsold electronic baby books and high chairs once the crisis eases.